Status Social 2017 Charity of the Year Revealed!

A Derby-based refugee charity is to receive more than £5000 of free social media training and consultation after becoming Status Social’s 2017 Charity of the Year.

Upbeat Communities provides support for those newly arrived in the UK and helps people who have been through the asylum process and granted refugee status.

It has recently received funding to roll out its Welcome Box scheme nationally in which asylum seekers are helped to feel at home in their place of arrival. Upbeat Communities also puts on English classes and helps refugees become integrated in their communities.

As our Charity of the Year, Upbeat Communities will go through a social media strategy workshop process before its staff receive training on relevant social networks. It will also receive ongoing consultation.

Status Social director Kerry Saxby said that, with 18 applicants, choosing the 2017 Charity of the Year was the hardest it had ever been:

For the first time, we decided we couldn’t decide by application form alone but had to shortlist and carry out interviews too.

The passion of the team at Upbeat Communities really shone through and the potential of the charity is enormous.

We’re delighted to be Status Social’s charity of the year! We’re at a key point in our growth as an organisation, as we provide more services for refugees across Derbyshire and beyond.

Every day, we hear moving stories from people who have fled extreme violence and danger and are seeking safety in the UK. Being able to better use social media to share their stories means we can help more strangers become neighbours and invite more people to join our vision too.

Status Social director, Mark Saxby, added:

We are really looking forward to helping Upbeat Communities make a difference – in 2016, for example, First Steps doubled their social media reach and our support helped them generate an extra £90,000 in funding.

We know the subject of asylum seekers and refugees can be a controversial one – and we love being counter-cultural at Status Social!